The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 18, 1984 - Page 11 Sophomore punter gets 'freshman roll' By KATIE BLACKWELL A mere six months ago, if you asked O Bo Schembechler to comment on Michigan's 1984 punting game, he'd grumble something to the tune of, "Ahhh, I don't want to talk about it. I don't know who's going to do the pun- ting."' w The source of Schembechler's pre- season kicking jitters was a com- bination of the loss of four-year stan- dout Don Bracken and poor performan- ces by his replacements. But now, six games into the campaign, the boss is sitting pretty. He has the tenth best punter in the country thus far. SOPHOMORE MONTE ROBBINS, "a non-scholarship walk-on from Great Bend, Kansas, boasts a 44.6 yard-per punt average at this point in his first season of action. That average is Rob bins boots Bo 's preseason worries highlighted by an outstanding perfor- mace against Michigan State. Robbins pounded seven kicks for a 50.4 average, including one 78-yard blast. But Robbins is the first to admit that he has had the luck of the roll, so to speak, in attaining these impressive stats. "Don Bracken told me I have the 'freshman roll'," laughs Robbins. "But," he added, "You've got to kick the ball to make the rolls." UNDOUBTEDLY, the lucky bounces have helped ease .Robbins' Big Ten initiation. Taking that into con- sideration, there is room for im- provement in the 6-4 20-year-old. "As far as the rolls go," Robbins said, "I haven't been kicking as well as I can." But noone can ask more of Robbins, considering the pre-season skepticism. Schembechler's concern was indeed well-founded on the basis of Robbins previous showings in practice and the spring game. "LAST YEAR I didn't kick good at all. I don't know what the deal was," said Robbins. "The spring game was just a catastrophe, I knew I had to do something over the summer." So, knowing that 1984 was the perfect chance to prove his talents, he went home to Kansas intent on improving his game. "I thought well, it's up to me," Robbins recalled. "Because he (Schembechler) didn't recruit any other kickers." Whatever he did down there in America's heartland worked like a charm. Robbins took the field seven times against Miami in his first ap- pearance as a Wolverine and came away with a 43.4 yard average and the kicking team champion award for the week. "ALL THE time over the summer I thought to myself how I would feel in front of all those people," Robbins reflected. "It wasn't as bad as I thought. I wasn't that nervous." Ironically, both Bracken and Robbins came into the Wolverine system via the same route. As high schoolers, both at- tended nation-wide kicking camps run by Ray Pelfrey. Four years ago, it was Pelfrey that brought Bracken to the at- tention of the Michigan coaches. The Wolverines happened to need a punter at that time, and Bracken fit the bill. The same was true for Robbins. Pelfrey found him a spot behind Bracken, then a senior and now it is Robbins in the spotlight. Robbins tur- ned down scholarship offers from Kansas and Louisville and a possible college basketball career to become a Wolverine. ROBBINS' QUICK rise to the limelight hasn't seemed to have affec- ted him much. He is very down to earth about his success and quick to point out his blocked punt against Michigan State. "That's the worst thing that a punter can have happen," he said. Robbins teammate and roommate in South Quad, linebacker Todd Schulte said Robbins' only change from last year is added confidence. "HE'S THE MOST modest guy I know," Schulte said. "He gets mad if I tell people his achievements." Signing autographs after a game this year, Schulte wrote, 'Monte Robbins' room- mate'. "I did it once just to get him mad," Schulte laughed. Though he rarely says it, Schem- bechler, too, is pleased with his pun- ter's turn around. It's evidenced by his awarding Robbins the kicking cham- pion award after the Miami game. "Now, in practice he'll come up to me and say 'Good kick, kid'. To me that means more than anything because he's short on compliments." Schembechler knows what he's doing. He's trying to keep his young punter's feet on the ground. But with Robbins, that seems an easy task. "It's not near over," Robbins stated. "I've still got five more games to go - anything can happen." um News in The Daily 764-0552 RINN ARBOR" 5th Avenue at liberty.St. 761-9700 DAILY FIRST MATINEE $2.00 ENDS TONIGHTI "THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE" AT 1 00. 7 20. 9:30 STARTS FRI.! LIMITED 1 WEEK ENGAGEMENT PRIVATES ON PARADE "SATIRICAL[ AND NOSTALGIC:' -DavidDonbyl N.Y. MAGAZINE}' R ? JOHN GLEESEL. I(R FRI. 1:00, 7:10,9:10,12:00 Robbins ... fills Bracken's shoes .Stickers can't score; Collins losing patience By DAVE ARETHA When a team averages less than a goal per game, a coach tends to get frustrated. "It's very, very discouraging," said Michigan Field Hockey Coach Karen Collins, after her team was blanked again, this time 1-0 to Notre Dame. "We've got people who can do it (score) and they don't," she said. , The stickers record dropped to 1-8-4 with yesterday's loss to Notre Dame. Michigan has scored just nine goals in 13 games this season. Collins was particularly upset with her team's lack of offense in yester- day's game. "They stood there and waited for the ball, and Notre Dame beat us to it," she said. To the team's credit, they pressured the Irish defense for much of the secon- d half. After falling behind on a goal by Notre Dame's Corrine DiGiacomo, the Michigan women threatened to score several times. Two scoring chances late in the game were particularly painful. With 6 minutes left, Michigan was awarded two straight penalties corners but was unable to cash in. And with just seconds remaining, a loose ball sailed through the Notre Dame goal crease, but again, no Michigan player was able to capitalize. Michigan will try to double, or perhaps triple, their victory total this weekend when they face Iowa on Satur- day and Ohio State on Sunday. Both games are at Columbus. Michigan's next home game will be Tuesday, October 30, against Toledo. Associated Press The Islanders' Pat LaFontaine and Duane Sutter look on as the puck shoots past the face of Detroit's Greg Smith during the first period of last night's NHL game at Joe Louis Arena. New York beat the Red Wings, 6-4. SPOR TS OF THE DAIL Y: Gis pulls trick to beat Wings :2: : f:;s : ": . :{ : ::h} : '$ v... 'A FABULOUS FAIRY TALE:' -Vincent Canby, NEW YORK TIMES (.ABR!I. (.ARC IA MARQUEZ.S ERENDIRA STARRNG IRENE PAPAS SCRuNPAY BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ (Nobel Prize Winner. 1982) ;:{:: i ?i iti r :: :t':'r i "a } ::y , ";r:?;; : "r jY.k: ,{:\ . :i 'f.}1 : $y+: ti" r"<{; DETROIT (AP) - Clark Gillies scored his third goal of the game with 3:14 remaining last night to lead the New York Islanders to a come-from- behind 6-4 National Hockey League victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Gillies deflected Pat LaFontaine's slapshot past Detroit netminder Greg Stefan to snap a 4-4 tie and give the Islanders their third straight victory. DEFENSEMAN BRAD PARK had given Detroit a 4-2 lead with his second goal of the night 6:18 into the third. period, but the Islanders tied the score when John Tonelli and Gillies scored 44 seconds apart midway through the period. The Islanders took a 2-1 lead early in the second period on LaFontaine's second goal of the season, but the Red Wings bounced back on a goal by Kelly Kisio at 17:15 of the middle of the period and Park's power-play tally with six secon- ds remaining. Detroit opened the scoring at 5:04 of the first period. Steve Yzerman was credited with the goal after New York defenseman Denis Potvin inadvertly steered his rebound into the Islanders' net. New York tied the score before the period was over on Gillies' first goal of the game. Mike Bossy clinched the vic- tory for New York, scoring his fifth of the season with 1:10 remaining in the game. The Islanders improved their record to 3-1 while the Red Wings lost for the third time in four starts. USFL sues NFL NEW YORK (AP) - the United States Football League filed a $1.32 billion antitrust suit against the National Football League yesterday, seeking to void the NFL's television contracts with the three major net- works and charging that "a con- spiracy" exists to put it out of business. The USFL also asked the court to break up what it calls the NFL's monopoly on player contracts and stadiums in the nation's major cities. THURS. 1:00, 7:00, 9:00 FRI. 1:00, 7:30, 9:30, 11:30 :: :: m DAILY MATINEES ::. .:.::::.....:...:. ; GRIDDE PICKS Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu said the peace prize was nice, but there's still something missing in his life. "When I was younger," he said, "people used to make fun of my name. I thought, if I could just win griddes, they'd stop. Besides, that Pizza Bob's pizza is worth much more than the M $190,000 Nobel award." You too can take that first step toward a Nobel prize. 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